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Extra police, security and attendants are working at SkyTrain stations in the Metro Vancouver area after RCMP detonated a bomb found on the elevated tracks...

Transit officers scoured SkyTrain stations, bus loops and security footage for signs of danger this weekend after two suspected explosive devices were found on the tracks in Metro Vancouver on Friday.

One device was a makeshift bomb left on the Expo Line in Surrey, the other a piece of drainage pipe spotted at Metrotown Station in Burnaby. The discoveries prompted a comprehensive bomb sweep along TransLink routes and a “significant increase” in security staff on SkyTrain lines, said Transit police spokeswoman Anne Drennan on Sunday.

“We also want to reassure the public that this is being taken seriously and that we are taking every possible precaution so that they have a safe ride,” she said.

Drennan said about a dozen officers out over the weekend investigating how the explosive device ended up on the tracks between two stations in Surrey.

As part of that probe, they’ll continue to canvass residents and businesses in Surrey for information. As well, investigators are reviewing video cameras from several SkyTrain stations and businesses all around the Surrey stations.

They still don’t know how the device got on the tracks or who put it there, but Drennan said technicians have determined it was dangerous.

She said the bomb had a fuse but that it was impossible to say whether it would have detonated on its own.

“It appeared that it would have had to be ignited electronically or manually,” she said.

At around 2 p.m. Friday, Surrey RCMP’s explosives unit was dispatched to a section of the Expo Line after a passenger reported seeing a suspicious red canister on the line midway between the Scott Road and Gateway stations.

When the unit arrived, they found three empty tanks strapped to a small red canister, with straps and wires sticking out of the bundle.

“When you looked down on the device you could see what appeared to be some sort of red canister; it looked like possibly a fire extinguisher or an oxygen tank,” Drennan said.

The unit removed the entire contraption in an explosive safe container and will dismantle it, keeping the tanks for forensic testing and evidence, Drennan said. The device itself will be blown up for safety reasons.

There are no suspects at this point in what was the first explosive device ever found on TransLink property Drennan said.

“We have no idea how the device was placed there; it is possible physically for it to have been thrown up on the track but we don’t know that’s what happened and we don’t know how long it was there,” Drennan said. “It’s not possible to throw anything of that size or nature off the train itself, so it would have to be somebody that was capable of climbing up something else to allow them to place or toss the device onto the guideway.

“We are asking anybody who had seen anything suspicious to give Transit police a call,” she said.

The discovery led TransLink to stop running trains between Scott Road and Gateway stations — with a bus bridge running between the two stations— until 5:30 p.m.

Roughly six hours after the device was discovered, an RCMP bomb disposal unit was also dispatched to Metrotown station in Burnaby when a TransLink attendant found another suspicious object outside the east entrance. The object was “slightly hidden” up against a concrete wall near the station entrance and was found during sweeps of all stations in the system.

But by 10 p.m., investigators had confirmed that the device was not explosive.

“It turns out that it was a length of drainage pipe with some heavy gauge plastic wrapped up inside and metal pieces on the end,” Drennan said. The pipe apparently came from a construction site adjacent to the station.

TransLink continued SkyTrain service without stopping at Metrotown Station until the item was fully examined, and in the interim, shuttle buses moved people between Patterson, Metrotown and Royal Oak SkyTrain stations.

Drennan added that police on Friday also checked out a paint can left in an “odd spot” at the Gilmore SkyTrain station in Burnaby. That turned out to be harmless as well.

She said the false alarms were to be expected because of the “heightened vigilance” of transit employees following the discovery of explosives in Surrey.

“This is not unusual after something like this happens. Everyone is on high alert,” Drennan said. “Everyone is out there doing their jobs.”

TransLink will continue security sweeps of the entire transit line, including bus loops and sea bus terminals, through the start of the week, she said.

With files from The Canadian Press, Bethany Lindsay, Tiffany Crawford and Christopher Reynolds

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